They have overcome monsoon rains, a lack of facilities and an unfair share of domestic chores, but PNG women are still climbing the world Twenty20 rankings.
abc.net.au/news/png-womens-cricket-team-joins-australian-championships/101859626There's just one turf cricket pitch in Papua New Guinea, but that hasn't stopped the country's women's team rising to 12th in the world Twenty20 rankings.Coach Kath Hemptenstall says the team, which includes seven mothers, has overcome significant hurdles simply to play.
"We've just got the one turf wicket in the whole country and a couple of turf nets," Hemptenstall says."When you take all that into consideration, it's pretty impressive that both our men's and women's sides have got to where they have."COVID-19 hit the Lewas hard: the team didn't play an international game for almost three years before the Twenty20 World Cup qualifiers in September last year.
Yet, PNG still managed to finish fifth out of eight teams, beating Scotland, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.Captain Kaiya Arua says she was also proud their team hit the most sixes."You can see most of us are really tiny — we are not that huge a side — we just have the strength and courage to do what we think we can."However, the PNG players know they need game time to improve further.
That's why they regard their invitation to this week's Australian Country Championships in Canberra as crucial. The Lewas will play at least eight games during the five-day tournament, which includes state country sides and a team from ACT.The Lewas' coach describes the highly skilled players as like "elite backyard cricketers".
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